Growth of coin in circulation

When the Roman empire fell, one of the casualties was the imperial mints that produced the gold, silver and other coins that made large scale commerce possible. After a century or so, there was far less coinage in circulation and economic activity was reduced to inefficient trade and barter. But as new governments developed, new mints were established. While there were many more entities issuing coins, at least there was now a way to convieniently accummulate wealth. Eventually a few states, notably Venice and Florence, began issuing gold coins, which stimulated commerce even more. As time went by even the poorest tenant farmer was sometimes able to put away (usually buried somewhere, much to the delight of later archiologists) some coins for future emergencies. As serfs became more expert and productive, they were able to create surplus goods that could be sold for cash (coins, not paper money which came much later). When there overlord got into a tight financial situation, the serfs would pool their cash and negotiate with their lord for concessions. Many noble landholders found this an irresistable arrangement. They took the serfs cash and granted the concessions. By and by, the serfs had fewer obligations to their master and many became serfs in name only. At that point, it wasn't unusual for groups of serfs to come up with the thousands of ducats required to hire a good lawyer. They then sued their overlord in the king's court to be rid of even more feudal obligations. The serfs often won their cases, the nobles being rather too sure of themselves in legal dealings with commoners. All this would not have been possible if there were not a lot of cash in circulation. Even today, few lawyers will take their fee in the form of sheep or grain.